To alum or not to alum??

[M80]

Good morning Gents,

I also started using Alum about 3 months ago, but I am getting concerned with all the research and talk linking Alzheimer's to aluminum exposure. They say that people who die of Alzheimer's have much more aluminum in their brain tissue from exposure. If you google "does aluminum cause Alzheimer's" you will see what I mean. I am starting to have second thoughts on the indiscriminate use of the Alum. What do you think??

D/E Bob

Alum and aluminum are two different substances, with distinct chemical signatures. They possess different chemical properties which create different chemical attributes. Potassium alum contains a negative ionic charge, which does not allow it to travel across cell membranes, so it cannot be absorbed like aluminum can.

 

[buyandhold2018]

Alum and aluminum are two different substances, with distinct chemical signatures. They possess different chemical properties which create different chemical attributes. Potassium alum contains a negative ionic charge, which does not allow it to travel across cell membranes, so it cannot be absorbed like aluminum can.

I love to see the facts come out. Thanks.

I use Alum and I sell Alum. I started selling it because I was blown-away by the results I got after being forced (by my retired Italian barber father in law) to buy it.

Alum, like every other product in the wet shaving world, is probably not for everybody.

 

[Mike Schutz]

It's a great deodorant. So much better than any of the commercial products. If I've had a particularly agressive shave, it's also a great life saver. It's one of the most versitile and cheap products we have available to us. Stay with the potassium alum. It's best for all uses.

 

[D/E Bob]

RazoRock,
I am not trying to degrade your product or discourage its use; in fact I own and one of your Alum's myself. My mother recently passed and she had Alzheimer's so I can tell you first hand, "it's no day at the beach"! I am not a chemist, nor a health official, just someone who is interested in the effects of Alum. Here is an article (click the link below) for what it is worth. For the sake of everybody using it including myself, I hope it is harmless. Personally, am starting to use it sparingly - only when needed, and I use witch hazel on a regular basis. Hopefully Witch hazel does not cause cancer or something.

http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php?title=Alum

Regards,

 

[Masterkova]

I've never used it. I'm not an "X-treme Shaver", don't go too agressive, and never really cut myself. Thayer's treats me mighty fine and I'm not sure what alum would add.

 

[M80]

RazoRock,
I am not trying to degrade your product or discourage its use; in fact I own and one of your Alum's myself. My mother recently passed and she had Alzheimer's so I can tell you first hand, "it's no day at the beach"! I am not a chemist, nor a health official, just someone who is interested in the effects of Alum. Here is an article (click the link below) for what it is worth. For the sake of everybody using it including myself, I hope it is harmless. Personally, am starting to use it sparingly - only when needed, and I use witch hazel on a regular basis. Hopefully Witch hazel does not cause cancer or something.

http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php?title=Alum

Regards,

Your copperwiki article makes claims and give no references. The references that it does list make no references to any health issues. All the health issues it talks about are acute health issues caused by over exposure. The exposure you get in the course of normal use is not harmful. Any chemical is dangerous if you get too much. Including oxygen. I mean too much water can kill you.
Read the MSDS; it doesn't list any potential chronic health effects. And it is considered Not hazardous according to Directive 67/548/EEC. (Dangerous Substances Directive). I can't find anything that associates potash alum with Alzheimer's. Maybe you need to do a bit more research.

 

[buyandhold2018]

RazoRock,
I am not trying to degrade your product or discourage its use; in fact I own and one of your Alum's myself. My mother recently passed and she had Alzheimer's so I can tell you first hand, "it's no day at the beach"! I am not a chemist, nor a health official, just someone who is interested in the effects of Alum. Here is an article (click the link below) for what it is worth. For the sake of everybody using it including myself, I hope it is harmless. Personally, am starting to use it sparingly - only when needed, and I use witch hazel on a regular basis. Hopefully Witch hazel does not cause cancer or something.

http://www.copperwiki.org/index.php?title=Alum

Regards,

Hi Bob,

I have yet to see one research paper that links Alum to Alzheimer. I think if there were a link, the rate of Alzheimers's in India and China would be astronomical.

I'm sorry to hear about your mother, I had a very close aunt die of Alzheimer's and it is indeed a brutal disease.

There are also papers that link Alzheimer's prevention to smoking tobacco. This maybe because Alzheimer's is a disease of the elderly and smokers (at least cigarette smokers) generally die prematurely.

Your link states that Alum in "high doses" can irritate the skin, eyes or lungs. I don't dispute this fact. Many things in "high doses" can cause problems. Chocolate in high doses can be toxic as well... Peanuts in large doses can kill, but in moderation is an excellent natural source of protein...

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/41827-10-dangerous-deadly-foods

I'm skeptical of theories based on 'junk science'. The fact is, a lot of products that are assumed to be the same are in fact different. Research says that tobacco (cigarettes) is a killer, so people group all forms of tobacco together; yet, many heavy cigar smokers, especially people in the cigar business live into their late 80s and 90s. Jose Padron is 85, Alejandro Robaina (recently passed) lived to 90, Avo Uzezian is 86. George burns smoked 12 cigars a day and lived until 100. Just last week Herb Brigham of Brigham pipe fame in Canada passed at 94 years old, a guy that had a lit pipe in his mouth for most of his life. Yet tobacco is bad because one product (cigarettes), that are only 35-40% tobacco (and 60% chemicals) are linked to causing cancer. By the way, I'm not advocating smoking being good for you, I'm just showing an example of faulty science and research.

 

[woodfluter]

Alum and aluminum are two different substances, with distinct chemical signatures. They possess different chemical properties which create different chemical attributes. Potassium alum contains a negative ionic charge, which does not allow it to travel across cell membranes, so it cannot be absorbed like aluminum can.

Interesting information. Thanks M80.

Regarding the aluminum issue, this is from one Charles DeCarli, director of the Alzheimer's Disease Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center:

"...researchers found aluminum in plaques present in the brains of people who had suffered from Alzheimer's. These plaques are associated with lesions of the brain that contain amyloid protein, which is thought to damage nerve cells and thereby cause Alzheimer's. Unfortunately, these findings were again compromised by contamination. The plaques are 'sticky'; the water used to wash the tissue to prepare for staining included some aluminum. When the tissue was processed using more sophisticated analytical methods, or when more accurate measures of aluminum content in the Alzheimer's-diseased brain were used, no excess aluminum was found. In addition, studies of the total amount of aluminum in the body of patients with Alzheimer's Disease show no increase in aluminum concentrations as compared to healthy individuals."

Which would appear to rule out this metal as a causative agent. However, any notion that hits the popular press is hard to kill. I would avoid an unusually high daily intake of aluminum (or most any metal) but it's present in your water and in your foods...it's the third most abundant element in the earth's crust IIRC. Sure wouldn't worry about alum on my face.

- Bill

 

[markb]

Alum for me... Every shave, every day..

 

[planto]

alum for me... Every shave, every day..

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